The Finnish national broadcaster has partnered with Kryptoradio to broadcast the Bitcoin blockchain over the digital television network making it accessible over a non-Internet channel to 95% of the Finnish population.

I remember the day I realized that TV was controlled by idiots: the day I watched Hat Squad. It only ran for one season, but the idea that anyone green-lit such a manifestly terrible idea literally shocked my conscience. The plot: a crusty old cop adopted a multi-ethnic trio of orphans and raised them to fight crime. Now that they are grown, Buddy, Rafael and Matty go abroad in the world, wearing distinctive hats, to dispense justice.

This show was so offensively stupid that for many years I thought I must have misremembered it, but I discovered its Wikipedia page this morning and realized that it was every bit as bad as I recalled, and possibly worse. That there were people stupid enough to spend enormous amounts of money of this turd sandwich is startling, but even more startling is the realization that these people were also allowed to operate motor vehicles and (shudder) reproduce.

When John Oliver smote the FCC over its pro-cable-company-fuckery policy, he compared hiring Tom Wheeler away from his job as top cable lobbyist to run the FCC to hiring a dingo to babysit your kids. Wheeler responded by assuring the American public that he was not a dingo (because metaphor). In his latest segment on the matter, Oliver challenged Wheeler to prove it.

The Walking Dead -- both the TV show and especially the comic -- is a triumph of visual storytelling; the infamous "Don't open/Dead Inside" panel with its chained-shut doors and grasping, bloody fingers prying around the edge is a marvel of visual economy and horror, which is what makes it just about the perfect thing to emblazon on a beach-towel. The towel measures 30" x 56" and costs $25. (via Crazy Abalone)

Join TV Land this Saturday, June 7th, in celebrating Ann B. Davis, who played lovable housekeeper and friend Alice on “The Brady Bunch.” Alice was an essential member of the Brady home -- shown by the fact that she was the center square in the title sequence!

The marathon features some of the most memorable moments with Alice and the Brady family – like when the house turns chaotic after Alice sprains her ankle; the time Alice decides to leave and the kids try to win her back; and when Alice’s cousin Emma (played by Davis) fills in while Alice is on vacation and ends up driving the Bradys insane! There’s no question that Alice is one of the most devoted and beloved housekeepers in TV Land.

In Stephen Colbert's Civics Lesson: How Colbert Super PAC Taught Viewers About Campaign Finance in Mass Communication and Society [paywalled], a study by researchers at the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, scholars surveyed people whose knowledge of campaign finance issues came from watching The Colbert Report's segments on super PACs. They concluded that, when compared to people who learned about campaign finance from traditional news sources (as opposed to a satirical program), Colbert viewers had a better grasp of the issues, thanks to the satirical structure and the use of narrative. The study specifically calls out the traditional reporterly convention of the "inverted pyramid" as a poor way to capture interest and convey nuance to an audience.

AND SO, TIME marches on. Joffrey Baratheon is no more, and Tommen, “First Of His Name,” owner of the cuddly Ser Pounce, rises to take his place on the throne. But he’s just a boy, able to be pushed around by the blustering of his advisors and those who seek to gain power in King’s Landing. Tywin has Tommen’s ear—especially after that birds and bees talk—and Margaery has her secret visits, but according to Olenna Tyrell, she’ll have to out-maneuver Cersei to finally secure her place beside the Iron Throne as Queen.

Did you catch it? It’s a moment I’ve been waiting for Silicon Valley to address in some capacity—the divide between the tech corporations in Palo Alto and the blighted district to the south. (East Palo Alto is a misnomer—EPA is bordered by Menlo Park to the west and Palo Alto to the south.) The first four episodes of Silicon Valley have attempted to subtly insert regional details about the Peninsula into the dialogue of the show, which has always made the Bay Area kid in me beam. Episodes have referenced Sand Hill Road, which is the exit off highway 280 that leads right to the Stanford University campus (dotted with venture capital firms all the way down) and other geographical details that make the series feel lived-in. But tonight, in the opening scene between Erlich and popular graffiti artist Chuy Rodriguez, in a neighborhood referenced as high-crime and which clearly makes Dinesh uncomfortable, Erlich obliquely refers to their location.

Goodbye Big Dick Paul, hello hopefully equally well-endowed Cal! Orphan Black introduces a new character this week and he adds a jolt of energy to an episode that otherwise slows things way down and examines what makes its characters tick.

Until the last five minutes of this episode (more on those later) very little actually happens in “Mingling Its Own Nature With It.” Sarah, Felix, and Kira break into a cabin and Sarah reunites with the aforementioned Cal; Kira intuits that Cal is her father; Alison hits a new low at the opening of her musical; Cosima learns a tad more about her illness; and Helena eats some food with the Proletheans. After two action-packed weeks, Orphan Black eases up on the plot and switches into character-drama mode instead. The result is deeply satisfying, even if the episode feels a bit uneven at times.

Etsy seller EverydayMiniatures makes beautiful miniature replicas of classic TV show sets out of paper, foam, printed paper and glue. The Addams Family house is my favorite, selling for $345. But I Love Lucy and Ellen are pretty great too.

Kevin McFarland offers a spoiler-filled review of the latest episode of Game of Thrones, where violence against women and the oppressed--and its consequences--lurk in the background of every power play.